Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
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- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
Most Recent: PC
Resident Evil Revelations 2 has been pushed back a week to February 24
It looks like the episodic release schedule that Capcom announced for Resident Evil Revelations 2 has hit a snag. The first episode was originally scheduled to launch on February 17, but the publisher has been forced to delay it by a week to “fine-tune the final product.” This means that every episode in the game’s weekly schedule will also suffer a one-week delay:
- Episode 1: February 24 (PS3, PS4), February 25 (PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
- Episode 2: March 3 (PS3, PS4), March 4 (PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
- Episode 3: March 10 (PS3, PS4), March 11 (PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
- Episode 4: March 17 (PS3, PS4), March 18 (PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
As you might have guessed, this means that the retail disc version has also been delayed by a week. It’ll be available in stores for all five platforms (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One) on March 17.
To make the wait feel a little bit shorter, Capcom has released a pair of videos showcasing some new enemies that will appear in Resident Evil Revelations 2 through the Capcom-Unity blog.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor leads the way among 2015 DICE Awards nominees
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences have announced the nominees for this year’s DICE Awards and, just like the GDC Awards, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is leading the pack. Monolith’s expansion of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings garnered nine nominations including “Outstanding Achievement in Animation,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction,” “Outstanding Achievement in Story,” “Outstanding Innovation in Gaming,” “Outstanding Technical Achievement,” “Outstanding Character,” “Adventure Game of the Year,” and “Game of the Year.”
Shadow of Mordor will be competing against four games for the top prize. Rounding out the category are Bungie’s Destiny, BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition, Ubisoft’s Far Cry 4, and Blizzard’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. All told, 56 games received a nomination in at least one category.
This year’s DICE Awards have added a new category to the festivities, the DICE Sprite Award, in an attempt to recognize work done by smaller studios. The Banner Saga, Hohokum, Monument Valley, Threes!, and Transistor will be competing for the inaugural DICE Sprite Award, which honors “innovative gameplay and experiences.”
The full list of nominees can be found after the break and don’t forget to tune in to Twitch.TV on Thursday, February 5 at 7:00 PM (Eastern Time) to find out the winners. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Destiny, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
CoD: Advanced Warfare goes 2-for-2 as the best-selling game of December 2014
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is on a roll. After being named the best-selling game for all of last year, the NPD Group also confirmed that it was the best-selling game of December as well. Activision’s latest military shooter also took the top spot in November, during its first month of release.
With the holiday shopping season in full swing, December’s sales chart was dominated by big-name franchises including Grand Theft Auto V (#2), Madden NFL 15 (#3), Super Smash Bros. For Wii U / Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Minecraft (#6).. really, just the entire top ten.
On the hardware side of things, the Xbox One once again was the best-selling console, besting the PS4 for a second month in a row. The console’s $50 price cut is really working for Microsoft and the company has decided to reinstate the discount beginning today, possibly on a permanent basis.
The full top ten for December 2014 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny, Far Cry 4, FIFA 15, Grand Theft Auto V, Just Dance 2015, Madden NFL 15, Minecraft, NBA 2K15, NPD, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is the best-selling game of 2014
The NPD Group has finished calculating the 2014 game sales in the United States and they’re ready to declare a winner. In 2014, gamers bought more copies of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare than any other game. The franchise actually bookended both ends of the list as Call of Duty: Ghosts tabulated enough 2014 sales to check in at #10. In between those two extremes, the list actually features plenty of familiar faces.
Last year’s best-selling game, Grand Theft Auto V, managed to heist the #4 spot thanks to good sales in the early half of the year and a PS4/Xbox One re-release in the Fall. Sports games occupied three spots in the top ten as Madden NFL 15 (#2), NBA 2K15 (#7), and FIFA 15 (#9) were all popular with players.
Gamers voted with their wallets and both of 2014’s budding megafranchises-in-the-making cracked the top ten. Destiny came in at #3 while Watch Dogs had to settle for the #8 spot.
All told, game software sales were down 13% in 2014 to $5.3 billion. That’s still an impressive chunk of change, but players are increasingly moving over to digital storefronts for the majority of their game purchases. The complete top ten from 2014 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Destiny, FIFA 15, Grand Theft Auto V, Madden NFL 15, Minecraft, NBA 2K15, NPD, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, Watch Dogs
Activision details CoD: Advanced Warfare’s Havoc Map Pack ahead of January 27 launch
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare‘s Havoc Map Pack is less than two weeks away, so Activision has dropped a few new details and a behind-the-scenes trailer to get us all talking about it. The Havoc Map Pack will follow the same “four competitive maps/one co-op map” format that Infinity Ward used for Ghosts. Here’s what players can expect from the four competitive maps:
Core: Deploy to the Gobi desert where the ravaged ruins of a nuclear fusion plant set the stage for a high-octane warzone. Take down enemies through the wreckage in long-range combat or get up-close and personal in the tunnels surrounding the central turbine. Activate decontamination drones using the map-based scorestreak to help clean out the competition.
Urban: Prepare yourself for brutal, high-speed combat in Dallas Ward 3, a future mega structure, funneling players into a close-quarters free-for-all. This modular compound’s verticality unleashes the exoskeleton’s capabilities. Stay focused during the timed event as blast doors alter the map’s flow and sightlines.
Sideshow: In the shadow of Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, this abandoned inn’s open layout amplifies its creep factor. Blast your way through the clown inn with close-quarters battles or use long-range site-lines from the mining facilities and natural terrain. Use the map-based scorestreak to activate the lights, music, and magic of the clown marquee and rain down a barrage of rainbow smoke-trailed cannonballs.
Drift: An idyllic ski resort high in the Rocky Mountains is transformed into a festive high-altitude playground, perfect for an all-out firefight. Make your way to the highly contested over watch in the glass observation deck or take a ride on the carousel to deliver 360 degrees of carnage. Players can use the map-altering timed event to their advantage as an avalanche of snow and debris disorients players, intensifying the battle.
Sledgehammer Games is also taking a page from Treyarch as the co-op maps for Advanced Warfare will feature an ever-expanding zombie horde. The first episode of “Exo Zombies,” which stars John Malkovich, Bill Paxton, Rose McGowan, and Jon Bernthal, will be included with the Havoc Map Pack.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare‘s Havoc Map Pack will be available to download on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 on January 27. A PS3, PS4, and PC release will likely follow in February.
2015 Writers Guild nominees: Alien: Isolation, Last of Us: Left Behind, AC: Unity, Freedom Cry
The Writers Guild of America has announced the nominees for this year’s Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing award, which they use to honor the best game writing of the year.
Continuing their love affair with Ubisoft, the Guild nominated both new entries in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry, for this year’s Writers Guild Award. Two other games are have also been nominated this year, Creative Assembly’s Alien: Isolation and Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us: Left Behind expansion. The full list of nominated writers can be found here:
Alien: Isolation (Sega)
Writers: Dan Abnett, Dion Lay, Will PorterAssassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry (Ubisoft)
Lead Scriptwriter: Jill Murray
Scriptwriter: Melissa MacCoubrey
Story: Jill Murray, Hugo Giard, Wesley PincombeAssassin’s Creed: Unity (Ubisoft)
Story: Alexandre Amancio, Sylvain Bernard, Travis Stout
Scriptwriting: Alexandre Amancio, Travis Stout, Russell Lees, Darby McDevitt, Ceri Young
Additional Scriptwriting: Jeffrey YohalemThe Last of Us: Left Behind (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Written by: Neil Druckmann
Writers from Naughty Dog and Ubisoft have been trading off top honors at the WGA Awards for the last five years. Naughty Dog prevailed last year for their work on The Last of Us, following wins for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (2012) and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2010). In between, Ubisoft collected a pair of WGA Awards for Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation (2013) and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (2011).
If history repeats itself, writers from Ubisoft will be hoisting a trophy in victory when the winners of the 2015 Writers Guild Awards are announced on February 14.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Alien: Isolation, Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry, Assassin's Creed: Unity, The Last of Us, The Last of Us: Left Behind
Get your first glimpse at Kung Lao (and Kitana!) in the latest Mortal Kombat X trailer
As promised by Ed Boon yesterday, a new Mortal Kombat X trailer starring Kung Lao was unleashed upon the world today. While the man with the razor-rimmed hat got plenty of screen time, an appearance by Kitana and her razor-rimmed fan blades raised just as many eyebrows. Or the developers at NetherRealm really like razor-rimmed weapons, I can’t decide.
Kitana looks quite similar to her previous appearances, with a veil covering her face and blue bikini armor (barely) covering the rest of her. Like Kung Lao, it’s currently unknown how the Princess of Edenia/Outworld survived her apparent death at the end of 2011’s Mortal Kombat. Perhaps we’ll learn more about her backstory for Mortal Kombat X, and her three character variations, in a future update from NetherRealm Studios.
Mortal Kombat X will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on April 14.
Meet Behemoth, the star of Evolve’s Monster Expansion Pack
After months of teasing, Turtle Rock Studios is finally ready to unveil Evolve‘s fourth Monster, Behemoth, which will be released as part of the game’s Monster Expansion Pack. The Monster Expansion Pack is being offered as a bonus to players who pre-order, but it will also be sold separately for $14.99. Either way you acquire it, the Monster Expansion Pack will be available this Spring.
So what can we expect from Behemoth? Aside from the excellent Indiana Jones-inspired trailer above, the rocky beast is the largest Monster that will ever be offered in Evolve. He is stronger than any other Monster and has more health and tougher armor too. Thankfully, he cannot leap or jump, but he can curl himself into a ball and roll over the Hunters.
Want more? The Evolve News Blog has an infographic comparing Behemoth’s girth to other grand endeavors and details his four attacks:
- Lava Bombs: Effective at short and long range, these mortar bombs shatter into fragments and continue to burn the area around them, including any Hunters who find themselves in the damage radius.
- Rock Wall: Creates a large, semi-circular rock structure that either traps victims inside with Behemoth, or locks him away from attackers.
- Tongue Grab: Behemoth uses his harpoon-like tongue to snatch a distant target and pull it into melee.
- Fissure: A wave of destruction blasts out of Behemoth, fracturing the terrain and scalding and stunning everything in its path.
Turtle Rock has also outlined some additional downloadable content that will grace Evolve after its PC, PS4, and Xbox One launch on February 10:
The Hunting Season Pass will include “Magma” skins for the three main Monsters and four new playable Hunters. The Hunting Season Pass will be available in the Spring and has been priced at $24.99 (each Hunter will also be sold separately for $7.49 apiece). It’s also available as part of the Digital Deluxe Edition, which will also include the main game and the Monster Expansion Pack. The Digital Deluxe Edition will be sold exclusively as a digital download, which has been priced at $79.99.
Lastly, the PC Monster Race Edition is a digital download exclusively for the PC that includes the main game, the Hunting Season Pass, the Monster Expansion Pack, and a special bundle of DLC featuring a fifth Monster, two additional Hunters, and four PC Monster Race-exclusive Monster skins. The PC Monster Race Edition has been priced at $99.99.